The Messiah Promised

Assuring Hope
Jesus, the Promised Servant-leader

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (The Message)
 ^16-20Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.
 ²¹How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

For Reflection The decision to which is referred is one to use a Jesus-centered focus. Jesus died for all mankind.  It is about fresh starts. It is about what is at the core of our beings.  It is about the freeing of our souls to follow the paths which God intends for us.  Sin is in the past.  Each day, each hour, each second offers a new start.  This is the message of hope and the promise of reconciliation with God.  How does this promise free you?

Pray
that each of us believes this good news.  Pray for those who remain mired in past transgressions and who feel unworthy of the life affirming transformation offered by God.  Pray that all will embrace the gift of the resurrected Christ.

The Cost of Servanthood

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Isaiah 53:4-6 (The Message)


 ^2-6The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
   a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
   nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
   a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
   We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
   our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
   that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
   that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
   Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
   We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
   on him, on him.

For Reflection
Because you are a Christian, do you find yourself at risk?  In many parts of the world to confess your Christianity is to invite death.  Not many Americans face this artifact of following Christ as graphically.  The risks may be more subtle.  God is carrying our burden.  God is beside us to guide and comfort.  In what way will you, as servant of God, give your life for many?

Pray
for the servants of God. Pray that you accept the consequences of serving Christ gratefully.  Pray that God will lead you away from hurtful actions and toward reconciliation.

Always the Unexpected

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Isaiah 53: 1-6 (The Message)

 ¹ Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this?  ^2-6The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
   a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
   nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
   a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
   We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
   our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
   that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
   that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
   Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
   We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
   on him, on him.

 
For Reflection
God is always doing the unexpected.  Who would have thought that the Christ event would have had such lasting influence.  An unlikely movement, begun in suffering and pain has spawned a legacy of hope, and justice. Look for God in unexpected places.

Pray
that we will always remember the life and death of our Lord and Savior.  Remember the passion not for its sad ugly tale.  Rather, remember the the miraculous conquering life that transforms us all.

Sinners Sentenced to Life

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Romans 5:12-17 (The Message)

The Death-Dealing Sin, the Life-Giving Gift

 ^12-14You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we're in— first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Even those who didn't sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it.  ^15-17Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man's sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God's gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! There's no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. If death got the upper hand through one man's wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?

For Reflection
God through Christ ends the separation of humankind from God.  No more life termination.  Now, life recovery.  Celebrate your life,  Sing praises to the living God!

Pray
that you will realize the wonderful gift you have been given.  Pray that you use your life as a testament to that gift.

Gifts -- In Gratitude

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Ephesians 4:25-5:2 (The Message)
 ²⁵What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ's body we're all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
 ^26-27Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don't stay angry. Don't go to bed angry. Don't give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.
 ²⁸Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can't work.
 ²⁹Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
 ³⁰Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted.
 ^31-32Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
 ^1-2Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

For Reflection
Not a sacrifice, but, rather, transformation is the gift God offers us.  We in return give ourselves to Him in gratitude and praise.  Not a sacrifice.  Rather, a joy.

Pray
prayers of thanksgiving for the Holy Spirit that guides, comforts and propels you into the Kingdom of God.  Pray that you will learn to love as God loves.

The Perfect Sacrifice

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Hebrews 10:10-18 (The Message)

The Sacrifice of Jesus

 ^1-10The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Since that old "law plan" wasn't complete in itself, it couldn't complete those who followed it. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can't get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ:

   You don't want sacrifices and offerings year after year;
      you've prepared a body for me for a sacrifice.
   It's not fragrance and smoke from the altar
      that whet your appetite.
   So I said, "I'm here to do it your way, O God,
      the way it's described in your Book."
When he said, "You don't want sacrifices and offerings," he was referring to practices according to the old plan. When he added, "I'm here to do it your way," he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan—God's way—by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.  ^11-18Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:

   This new plan I'm making with Israel
      isn't going to be written on paper,
      isn't going to be chiseled in stone;
   This time "I'm writing out the plan in them,
      carving it on the lining of their hearts."
He concludes,
   I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
Once sins are taken care of for good, there's no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.
.
For Reflection
Even with sacrificial ritual, the old plan, encumbered as it was by human corruption could not complete humankind. Sacrifice became impotent. God through the Holy Spirit and the once and for all sacrifice of Christ is reconciling the world -- one person at at time. He has removed the crutch of formulary worship and obedience to rules enforced by fear and retribution is wiped away.  The slate is wiped clean.  Can you find the place God has for you that resides in the lining of your heart?

Pray
that you will listen for the call of God.  Pray that you will see in the commonplaces of your being the plan that God has for you.

The Myth of Proofs

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Jonah-Evidence

 ³⁸Later a few religion scholars and Pharisees got on him. "Teacher, we want to see your credentials. Give us some hard evidence that God is in this. How about a miracle?"  ^39-40Jesus said, "You're looking for proof, but you're looking for the wrong kind. All you want is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles. The only proof you're going to get is what looks like the absence of proof: Jonah-evidence. Like Jonah, three days and nights in the fish's belly, the Son of Man will be gone three days and nights in a deep grave.
 ^41-42"On Judgment Day, the Ninevites will stand up and give evidence that will condemn this generation, because when Jonah preached to them they changed their lives. A far greater preacher than Jonah is here, and you squabble about 'proofs.' On Judgment Day, the Queen of Sheba will come forward and bring evidence that will condemn this generation, because she traveled from a far corner of the earth to listen to wise Solomon. Wisdom far greater than Solomon's is right in front of you, and you quibble over 'evidence.'
 ^43-45"When a defiling evil spirit is expelled from someone, it drifts along through the desert looking for an oasis, some unsuspecting soul it can bedevil. When it doesn't find anyone, it says, 'I'll go back to my old haunt.' On return it finds the person spotlessly clean, but vacant. It then runs out and rounds up seven other spirits more evil than itself and they all move in, whooping it up. That person ends up far worse off than if he'd never gotten cleaned up in the first place.
   "That's what this generation is like: You may think you have cleaned out the junk from your lives and gotten ready for God, but you weren't hospitable to my kingdom message, and now all the devils are moving back in."

For Reflection
Paul Simon wrote a song called All Around the World (The Myth of Fingerprints).  He suggests in the song that even given hard evidence one chooses to believe or disbelieve.  He sings, "It was the myth of fingerprints.  That’s why we must learn to live alone."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CrHXnnyBrg

The religion scholars and Pharisees wanted credentials.  They spoke from authority. Jesus spoke with authority.  The scholars and Pharisees wanted proofs, evidence from signs. The evidence was facing them directly.  Perhaps the scholars and Pharisees feared living alone with out rules and hard evidence to bolster their established ideas.  Living alone meant they would have to face the reality of Jesus on faith alone.

Our contemporary society seems to favor the existential.  We in some ways are plagued by science and a preference to believe only what is empirically defined -- proved by the evidence.  We must get beyond the evidence to be ready for God.  We must accept the mysterious.  Devils move in on the wings of evidence.  But the evidence is a myth, fingerprints that point to false conclusions.

The greatest and most important questions in our lifetimes are answerable only in theology where evidence is weak and faith and hope and the grace of God is paramount.  Following God requires giving up the comfort of hard evidence.  It requires us to live alone, outside conventional wisdom. It requires us to reside in the mystery that is God's creation. To live in Christ alone is not a matter of evidence, but rather a matter of belief.

Pray
Help us to clean out the junk from our lives.  Help us to expect the unexpected.  Help us to live with faith and hope alone.  Help us to trust in the encouraging and loving hand of God who guides us to do his will. help us to see what is right in front of us in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

A Servant to God and His Creation

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (The Message)

 ^19-23Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

For Reflection
Whom do you serve?  How do you do it?

Paul articulates his service to the people God has created.  Not just the ones that have declared their allegiance to God, but all of God's people, the good, the bad and the truly evil ugly.

Paul says in order to help others one must enter their world but not take on their way of life.  Have you ever watched adolescents try to fit into peer groups?  They shift their attitudes, beliefs and values to appear similar the  to others whose approval and inclusion they wish to garner.  They will dress like the idol group and even adapt the nuances of language common to that group or at least its leaders.

Paul puts his finger on the greatest danger of entering into helping relationships -- that one is corrupted by his attempt to empathize.  In doing so he or she loses sight of himself or herself and the God-saved life he or she wishes the other to adopt. It' s a delicate balance to serve God and his people.  How do you say, "I understand." with out empathizing?  How do you empathize without making excuses for the other and enabling the status quo?

Pray
to find the wisdom to judge with out being judgmental.  Pray that others will see you as one who has their best interest as your first interest.  Pray that others who need help find it in a God-centered Relationship.

Fashion Shows

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Matthew 23:2-12 (The Message)

Religious Fashion Shows

 ^1-3 Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law. You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer.  ^4-7"Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.'
 ^8-10"Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.
 ^11-12"Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

For Reflection
Oh boy!  This is tough.  How do you tell the difference between fashionable, temporal, fads in faith and worship and those things that are real Christian tenets and values?  Even if the religious leaders follow their own theology with consistent action, can you be sure that it is right in the eyes of God?

Christ freed us from inappropriate rules, but He also left us with responsibilities filled with dilemma and uncertainty.  Matthew tells us that Jesus is the constant and the rock of certainty.  He is the only teacher.  In the cacophony of dos and dont's from hundreds of scholars, preachers, and self-proclaimed moralists, what can you know for sure?

Perhaps we can know little for sure.  The Christ event made the truth knowable.  We know that God loves us.  We know the law that Moses delivered.  We know that love trumps rules.  We know that God intends us to serve him.  How comfortable are you with just being yourself?  I suppose we should pray, study the word and do what we do with confidence in the hope that God will make what we do count.

Pray
that what you do will count in the lives of others and in the Kingdom of God.  Pray that you will spend time to study the word of God.  Pray that you will be willing to face your days accepting the fact that you are part of God's mysterious plan.

All Tasks Are Significant

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Matthew 24:45-51 (The Message)

 ^45-47"Who here qualifies for the job of overseeing the kitchen? A person the Master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day. Someone the Master can drop in on unannounced and always find him doing his job. A God-blessed man or woman, I tell you. It won't be long before the Master will put this person in charge of the whole operation.
 ^48-51"But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases—abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends—the Master is going to show up when he least expects it and make hash of him. He'll end up in the dump with the hypocrites, out in the cold shivering, teeth chattering."

For Reflection
Who likes KP duty?  How hung-up are we on someone's vocational position?  Don't orthopedic surgeons and carpenters use some of  the same tools?  Who you gonna call when you need a knee rebuilt or a home repaired?  The functions that each perform is significantly valuable.

So it is with our respective roles in the Kingdom of God.  There is no hierarchy of  significance!  All God wants is for each of us to do what he intended for us in a reliable dependable and competent manner.  But if you end up shirking your responsibility and dumped with the hypocrites, all is not lost.  God wants you back -- no questions asked -- as though you never left.  That is what it means to live in the hollow of God's hand.

Pray
that you never see your tasks as greater than another's.  Pray that you understand the value of what you preform in the advancement of the Kingdom of God.  Give thanks for the gifts you and others have received and for the opportunities to use them to the glory of God.

All in Good Time

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Isaiah 49:8-13 (The Message)

 ^8-12God also says:
   "When the time's ripe, I answer you.
   When victory's due, I help you.
I form you and use you
   to reconnect the people with me,
To put the land in order,
   to resettle families on the ruined properties.
I tell prisoners, 'Come on out. You're free!'
   and those huddled in fear, 'It's all right. It's safe now.'
There'll be food stands along all the roads,
   picnics on all the hills—
Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty,
   shade from the sun, shelter from the wind,
For the Compassionate One guides them,
   takes them to the best springs.
I'll make all my mountains into roads,
   turn them into a superhighway.
Look: These coming from far countries,
   and those, out of the north,
These streaming in from the west,
   and those from all the way down the Nile!"
 ¹³Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead!
   Mountains, send up cheers!
God has comforted his people.
   He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people.

For Reflection
"I want it all. I want it now." So goes the lyric in a Queen song.  It is said of modern society that we are impatient and unsatisfied with anything less than instant gratification.  We get upset because our web site page took longer than 4 seconds to load.  As Christians we tend to believe that we were made in God's image and to accomplish His purposes.  Yet, few of us have heard from Him directly. It is often times difficult to discover what his purpose is for us and even less obvious to us that we assist in His accomplishments. It is hard to wait for the ripening time. In many ways we are like teens, eager to reach and participate in adulthood. 
How do you handle not knowing if you are fulfilling God's purpose for you?  Isaiah tells us to be patient.  It is good to be one of God's sleepers.

Pray
that you have confidence in God's plan for you and the  patience to wait for the righteous time.  Pray that you continue to prepare as God has led us to understand.  Pray that in spite of not knowing the fullness of God's plan we continue to follow the Way.

Reassurance for God's People

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Isaiah 48:14-22 (The Message)
 ^14-16"Come everybody, gather around, listen:
   Who among the gods has delivered the news?
I, God, love this man Cyrus, and I'm using him
   to do what I want with Babylon.
I, yes I, have spoken. I've called him.
   I've brought him here. He'll be successful.
Come close, listen carefully:
   I've never kept secrets from you.
   I've always been present with you."

Your Progeny, Like Grains of Sand

 ^16-19And now, the Master, God, sends me and his Spirit
   with this Message from God,
   your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel:
"I am God, your God,
   who teaches you how to live right and well.
   I show you what to do, where to go.
If you had listened all along to what I told you,
   your life would have flowed full like a river,
   blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.
Children and grandchildren are like sand,
   your progeny like grains of sand.
There would be no end of them,
   no danger of losing touch with me."  ²⁰Get out of Babylon! Run from the Babylonians!
   Shout the news. Broadcast it.
Let the world know, the whole world.
   Tell them, "God redeemed his dear servant Jacob!"
 ²¹They weren't thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
   He made water pour out of the rock;
   he split the rock and the water gushed.
 ²²"There is no peace," says God, "for the wicked."

For Reflection
Just when the exiles thought that God's  redemption was all but lost God calls them to his fold.  Where sin abounded, God offered forgiveness.  God instructs his people to flee from captivity, and shout the good news of redemption,  What holds you captive?  Accept the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ.

Pray
that people all over the world that are held captive to contemporary idols, have the courage to accept God's redemption.  Pray for persecuted Christians.  Pray for the reconciliation of the world and the growth of the Kingdom of God.

God Discloses New Things

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Isaiah 48:6-8 (The Message)
 ^1-11 "And now listen to this, family of Jacob,
   you who are called by the name Israel:
Who got you started in the loins of Judah,
   you who use God's name to back up your promises
   and pray to the God of Israel?
But do you mean it?
   Do you live like it?
You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;
   you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,
   named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
For a long time now, I've let you in on the way I work:
   I told you what I was going to do beforehand,
   then I did it and it was done, and that's that.
I know you're a bunch of hardheads,
   obstinate and flint-faced,
So I got a running start and began telling you
   what was going on before it even happened.
That is why you can't say,
   'My god-idol did this.'
   'My favorite god-carving commanded this.'
You have all this evidence
   confirmed by your own eyes and ears.
   Shouldn't you be talking about it?
And that was just the beginning.
   I have a lot more to tell you,
   things you never knew existed.
This isn't a variation on the same old thing.
   This is new, brand-new,
   something you'd never guess or dream up.
When you hear this you won't be able to say,
   'I knew that all along.'
You've never been good listeners to me.
   You have a history of ignoring me,
A sorry track record of fickle attachments—
   rebels from the womb.
But out of the sheer goodness of my heart,
   because of who I am,
I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper.
   I don't wash my hands of you.
Do you see what I've done?
   I've refined you, but not without fire.
   I've tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.
Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.
   I have my reputation to keep up.
   I'm not playing second fiddle to either gods or people.

For Reflection

Well?  Before the Christ event, God was speaking through prophets and events.  He reminds His people that He, through the Spirit, had given many clues to his intentions and directions which were ignored.

Pray
that you live like citizens of the Kingdom of God.  Pray that you will grow in knowledge and grace of the One God who has refined you.

God Will Deliver

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Jeremiah 15:19-21 (the Message)
 ^19-21This is how God answered me:    "Take back those words, and I'll take you back.
   Then you'll stand tall before me.
Use words truly and well. Don't stoop to cheap whining.
   Then, but only then, you'll speak for me.
Let your words change them.
   Don't change your words to suit them.
I'll turn you into a steel wall,
   a thick steel wall, impregnable.
They'll attack you but won't put a dent in you
   because I'm at your side, defending and delivering."
         God's Decree.
"I'll deliver you from the grip of the wicked.
   I'll get you out of the clutch of the ruthless."
  
For Reflection
An angry Jeremiah, disappointed in God's support, complains and cries, "You're nothing, God, but a mirage,  a lovely oasis in the distance and then nothing."  How often have you felt like Jeremiah?  How often have you whined about some conflict or another? Could it be that Jeremiah was concerned more about how he felt and the effect of God's work on how he saw himself that he could not see God's defense?  Was Jeremiah speaking for himself rather than for God?  Think of a time when you thought you were carrying on God's work only to realize your objectives were more important than God's mission.

Pray
that you pray often enough that you understand the difference between your own defense and supporting God's work.  Pray that you screw up courage and fix yourself on God's mission at the expense of your own sacrifice.

Gods Chosen Instrument

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Acts 9:3-6, 10-18 (The Message)
 ^3-4He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?"
 ^5-6He said, "Who are you, Master?"
   "I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you'll be told what to do next."

¹⁰There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: "Ananias."
   "Yes, Master?" he answered.
 ^11-12"Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He's there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again."
 ^13-14Ananias protested, "Master, you can't be serious. Everybody's talking about this man and the terrible things he's been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he's shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us."
 ^15-16But the Master said, "Don't argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I'm about to show him what he's in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job."
 ^17-19So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, "Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul's eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal


For Reflection
Unlikely ministers, that's what we all are. Imperfect in need of revelation and God's miraculous hand.  Have you heard God's word?  Have your eyes been opened?

Pray
that you will be open to the will of God.  Pray for God's guidance.

God Hears Confession

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

 1 Kings 8:33-40 (The Message)

^33-34 When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy because they've sinned against you, but then turn to you and acknowledge your rule in prayers desperate and devout in this Temple,
      Listen from your home in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, return them to the land you gave their ancestors.
 ^35-36 When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quitting their sins because you have scourged them,
      Listen from your home in heaven, forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel.
    Then start over with them: Train them to live right and well; send rain on the land you gave your people as an inheritance.
 ^37-40 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort—any prayer that's prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, hearts penetrated by the disaster, hands and arms thrown out to this Temple for help,
      Listen from your home in heaven.
    Forgive and go to work on us. Give what each deserves, for you know each life from the inside (you're the only one with such "inside knowledge"!) so that they'll live before you in lifelong reverent and believing obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.

For Reflection
Solomon offers his prayer as we should.  He begins with acknowledging the glory of God and continues by remembering and reflecting God's great promise to His people.  Solomon prays on behalf of his people that their sins be forgiven and that God encourages his people live lives as only God knows them -- to bring his people to their full potential as citizens of the Kingdom of God.  God wants this for you too.

Pray
that  God reaches into your soul and drives it to the surface so that you will become all that God has intended you to become.

Building God a House

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

2 Chronicles 36:15-23 (The Message)
 ^15-17 God, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent warning messages to them. Out of compassion for both his people and his Temple he wanted to give them every chance possible. But they wouldn't listen; they poked fun at God's messengers, despised the message itself, and in general treated the prophets like idiots. God became more and more angry until there was no turning back—God called in Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who came and killed indiscriminately—and right in The Temple itself; it was a ruthless massacre: young men and virgins, the elderly and weak—they were all the same to him.
 ^18-20 And then he plundered The Temple of everything valuable, cleaned it out completely; he emptied the treasuries of The Temple of God, the treasuries of the king and his officials, and hauled it all, people and possessions, off to Babylon. He burned The Temple of God to the ground, knocked down the wall of Jerusalem, and set fire to all the buildings—everything valuable was burned up. Any survivor was taken prisoner into exile in Babylon and made a slave to Nebuchadnezzar and his family. The exile and slavery lasted until the kingdom of Persia took over.
 ²¹ This is exactly the message of God that Jeremiah had preached: the desolate land put to an extended sabbath rest, a seventy-year Sabbath rest making up for all the unkept Sabbaths.

King Cyrus

^22-23 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—this fulfilled the message of God preached by Jeremiah—God moved Cyrus king of Persia to make an official announcement throughout his kingdom; he wrote it out as follows: "From Cyrus king of Persia a proclamation: God, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also assigned me to build him a Temple of worship at Jerusalem in Judah. All who belong to God's people are urged to return—and may your God be with you! Move forward!"

For Reflection
What kind of house have you built for God?  What warnings go unheeded today?  God works through people, good and bad, weak and strong.  What work has God asked of you in the house you have built for Him?

Pray
for God's houses. Pray that the house you have built for God is strong enough to with stand the messages from idiots.  Pray that you can resist those who would weaken your house and your house hold.  Pray for God's help in keeping your house for Him strong.

The Prayer of Faith

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

James 5:13-18 (The Message)

Prayer to Be Reckoned With

 ^13-15Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.  ^16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

For Reflection
Do you spend much time in prayer?  Have you made prayer your common practice?  Start increasing the amount of time you formally spend in prayer.  It matters little what form of prayer you use, if any.  It matters only that you pray often.

Pray
for everything and everyone. Pray for living in the completeness God has intended for you.

Answer Me O Lord

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

1 Kings 18:30-38 (The Message)

 ^30-35 Then Elijah told the people, "Enough of that—it's my turn. Gather around." And they gathered. He then put the altar back together for by now it was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob, the same Jacob to whom God had said, "From now on your name is Israel." He built the stones into the altar in honor of God. Then Elijah dug a fairly wide trench around the altar. He laid firewood on the altar, cut up the ox, put it on the wood, and said, "Fill four buckets with water and drench both the ox and the firewood." Then he said, "Do it again," and they did it. Then he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. The altar was drenched and the trench was filled with water.
 ^36-37 When it was time for the sacrifice to be offered, Elijah the prophet came up and prayed, "O God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I'm doing what I'm doing under your orders. Answer me, God; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God, the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance."
 ³⁸ Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench,

For Reflection
To make the contrast between God's, Elijah made the fire impossible to start.  No trickery here.  No physical mutilations; just a God who responds to His people.  God will answer you.  Ask and receive the prom is of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Pray
for the realization of God's kingdom on Earth.  Pray that you will need no such proofs to believe in the power of God.

Two Different Opinions

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

1 Kings 18:17-29 (The Message)

^17-19 The moment Ahab saw Elijah he said, "So it's you, old troublemaker!"
    "It's not I who has caused trouble in Israel," said Elijah, "but you and your government—you've dumped God's ways and commands and run off after the local gods, the Baals. Here's what I want you to do: Assemble everyone in Israel at Mount Carmel. And make sure that the special pets of Jezebel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of the local gods, the Baals, and the four hundred prophets of the whore goddess Asherah, are there."
 ²⁰ So Ahab summoned everyone in Israel, particularly the prophets, to Mount Carmel.
 ²¹ Elijah challenged the people: "How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it's Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!"
    Nobody said a word; nobody made a move.
 ^22-24 Then Elijah said, "I'm the only prophet of God left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don't ignite it. I'll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I'll pray to God. The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God."
    All the people agreed: "A good plan—do it!"
 ²⁵ Elijah told the Baal prophets, "Choose your ox and prepare it. You go first, you're the majority. Then pray to your god, but don't light the fire."
 ²⁶ So they took the ox he had given them, prepared it for the altar, then prayed to Baal. They prayed all morning long, "O Baal, answer us!" But nothing happened—not so much as a whisper of breeze. Desperate, they jumped and stomped on the altar they had made.
 ^27-28 By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting, "Call a little louder—he is a god, after all. Maybe he's off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he's gotten involved in a project, or maybe he's on vacation. You don't suppose he's overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?" They prayed louder and louder, cutting themselves with swords and knives—a ritual common to them—until they were covered with blood.
 ²⁹ This went on until well past noon. They used every religious trick and strategy they knew to make something happen on the altar, but nothing happened—not so much as a whisper, not a flicker of response.

For Reflection
Sometimes we need proof.  Especially now in the age of science, when people seem to have a preference for beliefs based upon evidence.  Elijah is setting up an evidence-based argument complete with an experimental design.  The false god did not answer even when the practitioners of Baal mutilated themselves.   What evidence do you point to as proof of your God?

Pray
for those who only believe in what they can experience.  Pray that they see more than they look for.  Pray that they see and accepts God's presence in our midst.

The People God Redeemed

A Future for God's People
Turn to Me and Be Saved

Exodus 15:11-18 (The Message)
 ^10-11 You blew with all your might
      and the sea covered them.
   They sank like a lead weight
      in the majestic waters.
   Who compares with you
      among gods, O God?
   Who compares with you in power,
      in holy majesty,
   In awesome praises,
      wonder-working God?

 ^12-13 You stretched out your right hand
      and the Earth swallowed them up.
   But the people you redeemed,
      you led in merciful love;
   You guided them under your protection
      to your holy pasture.

 ^14-18 When people heard, they were scared;
      Philistines writhed and trembled;
   Yes, even the head men in Edom were shaken,
      and the big bosses in Moab.
   Everybody in Canaan
      panicked and fell faint.
   Dread and terror
      sent them reeling.
   Before your brandished right arm
      they were struck dumb like a stone,
   Until your people crossed over and entered, O God,
      until the people you made crossed over and entered.
   You brought them and planted them
      on the mountain of your heritage,
   The place where you live,
      the place you made,
   Your sanctuary, Master,
      that you established with your own hands.
   Let God rule
      forever, for eternity!

For Reflection
Who would follow a weak God?  But this is not just a God of great power.  Our god is a God of compassion.  Our God is a god of protection.  Our God is a god of sanctuary.

Pray
Praise God for his compassion and his offer of sanctuary for all who ask and believe.  Pray for His redeemed people that they may bask in the hope of God's promise.